“I’m not personally close, but I’ve always wanted to play basketball like (Yang) Hee-jong hyung. Can’t he even arrange a table for me to eat (laughs). I think we can learn a lot from running together.” This is what Moon Seong-gon (29, 196cm) said while attending Korea University.
Anyang KGC franchise star Yang Hee-jong was silent but shining. He blocked the opponent’s attack with his defense, threw his body wherever the ball was, and led his team to victory. Moon Seong-gon, who admired Yang Hee-jong, was selected by KGC as the first overall in the 2015 KBL rookie draft and became a ‘teammate’ with Yang Hee-jong. Starting from the 2019-2020 season after Sangmu was discharged, he earned the nickname ‘Post Yang Hee-jong’ and played an active role, and has now grown into ‘Moon Gil-dong’, who won the best defense award for three consecutive years.
Moon Seong-gon’s heart toward Yang Hee-jong is revealed in the present even without bringing up the past. After the news of Yang Hee-jong’s retirement announced on the 22nd, his first game, against Daegu Korea Gas Corporation on the 26th, gave a glimpse of his mind.
KGC was dragged by KOGAS until the first half, but overturned the game in the 3rd quarter, and started to solidify the game in the 4th quarter. 4 minutes and 44 seconds before the end of the 66-56 game, Seong-Gon Mun received a pass from Byun Jun-Hyung and made a 3-point shot from the top. He planted the wedge cannon and stretched out his hands to the sky.
Looking more closely at Moon Seong-gon’s hands, you can see that both of his hands are black, but they are spread out, meaning the number ’11’. It was a ceremony to convey to his role model, meaning Yang Hee-jong’s uniform number 11. KGC won 73-64. 메이저사이트
When asked about the ceremony, Moon Seong-gon said, “I was thinking about it before the game, but the shots kept going in and out. Then he went into the 4th quarter and held a ceremony at that timing. I think it will be okay to do it at home games in the future.”
Moon Seong-gon said of the time when he heard the news of his retirement, “After the article, Hee-jong went to his brother and asked if the article was wrong. He said he deliberately didn’t talk about it because the team was doing well. Since he wasn’t retiring right away, he said let’s play well until the end. In fact, I still don’t admit it. That’s why I’m not posting anything on social media. I want corrective information to come out every day after an article is published. I was aiming for the championship, so I was enjoying the season, but after the article came out, I wasn’t particularly happy.”
To Moon Seong-gon, Yang Hee-jong was a senior he wanted to eat with, a colleague he wanted to emulate, and he was an older brother who understood him the most. Moon Seong-gon spent 9 years with the player who was such an idol, and he was with the moment of retirement as a teammate.
Moon Seong-gon said about being with his idol as a colleague, “It’s so good. Not just a senior. It means more than that to me. He followed me like an older brother even if I didn’t show it. a mentor for life Whether it’s a friend, a junior, or even a senior, I think a real mentor is someone who can give a bitter voice when you’re on the wrong path. That is a guide and a true junior, senior, and friend. It’s my brother who did that to me. So I was able to come to this place. That’s why I want to stop retiring. Wouldn’t I be the person who knows and understands the players best in the entire KBL, not just the team? If Heejong is my older brother, I think he would know even if I didn’t tell him what I was feeling.”
Maybe Moon Seong-gon’s glorious era was the 9 years he spent with his idol Yang Hee-jong. Yang Hee-jong’s retirement will inevitably come, but there is still time left for the two of them.